Greed Extends To Stealing When Medicare Pays Bills

August 21, 1995

Re Medicare, greed and the extraordinary contempt for taxpayers' money:

Doctors and hospitals bill with no regard to normal considerations such as pricing, time, supplies equipment employed. All charges are arbitrary depending only upon a patient/client's ability to pay. And, no authority in control gives a hoot about a bad system getting worse. It's taxpayer money.

But when it reachess to the point one can spend a single night in a hospital and billed $10,893.65 (as reported in a letter to the editor, it's time for a drastic change. Either the medical fraternity and hospitals volunteer a pragmatic solution to the problem or, a concerned citizenry will demand laws to do it. Yhe claim that those with the ability to pay must compensate for the ingredient is without merit. It results in charges that are not required to be justified.

A solution is not impossible. It can be accomplished with a set of rules: 1) Let Medicare establish the amounts of payment consistent with time, miscellaneous cost and profit.

2) Make payment will be made in full only to doctors and hospitals in agreement with the plan. Should anyone employ help outside the group, the entire bill will be his/her obligation. The savings would be enormous.

And, one thing more: Reduce the cavalier attitude of the profession and Medicare when abuse are brought to their attention. Offer a 1 reward for the exposure of greed that upon occasion extends to theft. We could put the budget in balance in dozen months instead of seven years if only we made greed illegal and enforced the law.